The district of Jerusalem was organized in 1789 as part of Ontario
County, and then included the present towns of Benton, Milo and Torrey
as well as modern Jerusalem. It was named in deference to the "New Jerusalem"
established there by the presence of the Public Universal Friend and
her society. There was enough population by 1798 to organize a town;
when Benton was taken off in 1803, the town of Jerusalem was left with
township seven in the second range of Phelps & Gorham's Purchase,
and that part of the seventh township in the first range that lay west
of Keuka Lake; the part of Bluff Point south of the seventh township
was annexed from Steuben County in 1814. A small part of the village
of Penn Yan is in the town, several annexed parcels west of a line that
passes just west of Lakeview Cemetery. Jerusalem was one of Yates County's
five original towns.

Jerusalem is the largest town in the county, geographically. It has
by far the longest shoreline, from Penn Yan south along the west side of
the east branch of Keuka Lake to the tip of Bluff Point, then up the
east side of the west branch to Branchport, then back down the west side
to the county line. Consequently, it faces a very great development
pressure as lakefront and lakeview lots are converted from seasonal to
year-round occupancy. Resorts began to spring up in Jerusalem in the
last years of the 19th century, and recreational tourism has remained a
strong component of the town's economy.

Keuka College is located in the hamlet of Keuka Park, on the east
branch a few miles south of Penn Yan; it was founded in 1890 largely
through a local subscription effort and is now the county's sole
institution of higher learning, a four-year undergraduate college with
about 900 students.

Besides Branchport, which for a brief period beginning about 1870
incorporated as a village, Guyanoga and Indian Pines are hamlets within
the town. The old crossroads at Kinney's Corners is now called Bluff
Point after its long-time post office.

The town hall is in a former stone schoolhouse in Branchport, at 3816
Italy Hill Road.

The following series of records are on microfilm, and except for the
vital records may be viewed at the town hall, at the Yates County
Historian's office in Penn Yan, or at the NY State Library in
Albany.

HIGHWAY SURVEYS
Minute Books, 1798 - February 1927, includes Record of Roads 1798-1850
and highway districts for 1816; name index [Commissioners of Highway
minutes 1900-1906, see under District School Records below; the first
volume Record of Roads 1798-1820 has been indexed.]